Album Reviews

​Back after 15 years with a new line up apart from Troy Fleming who has been in the band for twenty years, original vocalist Rick Ruhl is still going and even better has managed to produced another hard edged, melodic, gritty album. Featuring 5 songs from their 2015 EP of the same name, there are three new studio recordings, three live songs and three videos to boot. Always accessible but never sugar coated or cheesy, EMN scream real life from every pore.

Single ‘Loco Crazy’ featuring Zach Myers of Shinedown gets all the way under your skin while not being at all obvious. Another obvious single ‘Blown Away’ has that easy accessibility of a song of a driving song you’ve always known and loved. ‘Snake’ featuring also Wayne Swinny of Saliva and has a slightly grungy feel about the chorus, but with the old Skool shredding featured easily strides the gap to appeal to classic rock fans. ‘Upper Hand’ and ‘Stand Up’ reveal southern influences endemic in the DNA of a band from Nashville. ‘Sacred Circle’ has a bit of a nineties feel to it but being a little Saigon Kick sounding remains commercial in its approach. ‘Days are Through’ is a slower track and more of an easygoin ballad with a rockier bluesier end. ‘Swing Again’ has slightly industrial and even Nu-metal influences, but with an ear for the catchy tune Ruhl once again stays dialled in to what HMM listeners will appreciate.

The live tracks are from the band’s performance at Minglewood Hall in Memphis at a benefit for Patrick Francis of ToraTora and including classic tracks “Closet Down the Hall’ and “Walls Come Down’ as well as ‘Push’. Ruhl commented in press that they’re not perfect but live tracks are not meant to be.

The diesel and reality infused approach of this band means they translate well against the harder profile of the rock scene these days overall. They always had a slightly harder image anyway of the old Skool bands with their first album coming out early 90s rather than late eighties after the Seattle revolution had really begun. However they’ve always been good at songs that the melodic rock fan enjoys and this album is no exception.